Combined easel and drafting-table.



W. B. JONES.

COMBINED EASEL AND DRAFTING TABLE.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 26. 19!].

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Fig.4 Fig.5

W INVEWTOR ATTORNEYS W. B. JONES.

COMBINED EASEL AND DRAFTING TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26. 191?.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR W ATTORNEYS i and exact description thereo WILLIAM BRYTHON JONES, F UTICA, NEW YORK.

COMBINED EASEL AND DBAF'IING-TABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

Application filed March 26, 1917. Serial No. 157,349.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM Bnr'rrrow J onus, of Utica, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Easels and Draft'in -Tables; and I do hereby declare that the ollowing is a full, clear,

which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

My present invention relates to a combined artists easel and drafting table.

The purpose of my invention is to provide an improved article of the class described and one having a great range of uses.

A further object is to provide an article of the class described which is readily foldable into very compact space and yet which may be extended so as to provide ample facilities for several dilferent classes of work, including drafting, pen and ink sketches, pencil or charcoal sketches and painting.

A further object of my invention is to provide an easel having a work holder so adjustable upon the main frame of the device that the work holder may be utilized to hold upon one surface canvas for painting in the usual upright or slightly sloping position or the work holder may be lowered part way toward the main frame and there have its other surface be the support for a drafting board or in position for pen and ink sketches or by still further lowering the work holder toward or directly to the front of the main frame the work holder forms a support for the artists materials when he is sketching with pencil or with charcoal.

A yet further purpose of my invention is to provide in an article of the class described suitable means for increasing the available size of the work holder when it is being used to support an artists canvas.

A still further purpose is to provide upon the article described an adjustable ledg or bracket upon the free end of the work holder, whereby said ledge is wide enough for a bracket or may be close enough to the surface of the drafting board to form a guide for a T-square.

Another purpose is to provide in combination with the article described a forward rest upon the main frame whereby the Work support hinged to the top of the main frame has its forward end very rigidly supported in order that the device may be rigid enough to be used for a drafting table.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the Specification and drawings herein and from the claims hereinafter set forth.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device with the work holder substantially upright to receive an artists canvas and with the front rest extended to support the artists palette.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my device with the work support dropped part way toward the front of the main frame and supported toward its forward end by the front rest, adapting the device to be used as a drafting table or for pen and ink work.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my device with the work holder lowered directly against the front of the main frame, forming an easel for pencil or charcoal sketching and the like.

Fig. 4 is a side view on an enlarged scale of my device in folded condition.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device when folded.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional View on a still further enlarged scale of the free end of the work support and its adjustable shelf and through the middle braces of both parts of the main frame.

Referring to the drawings in a more particular description, it will be seen that the combined artist s easel and drafting table has a main frame in the shape of thplfiln easel and composed of two halves hingcd to each other at their upper end and adapted to fold together for carrying or for storage or to be extended in order to hold the frame upright. The front half of the main frame consists of side legs 8 and 9 connected about midway of their length by a central crosspicce 10 and connected at their top by a strong top cross-piece 11. The rear half of the main frame consists of legs 12 and 13 rigidly connected to each other by a centrally located cross-piece 14 and has its top hinged to the top of the front half of the frame as by means of the upper ends of the rear legs 12 and 13 being connected by hinges 15 to the top cross-piece ll of the front half of the frame preferably near the front legs 8 and 9.

In order to obtain the greatest rigidity of the main frame and also allow of its parts being folded together to occupy the least space, the front legs 8 and 9 are preferably arranged with their narrow edges to the front and with the width of the leg extending rearward. while the rear legs 12 and 13 on the other hand are arranged in the other position; that is, with their wider sides to the front and their edges to the sides. When the main frame is folded the rear surface of the rear legs 12 and 13 is flush with the rear surface of the front legs 8 and 9 as plainly seen in Fig. and the rear half of the frame is inclosed or housed within the forward frame as will be obvious also from Fig. 5. The front central crosspiece has its forward surface flush with the forward surface of the front legs l. and 9 and is thin enough to allow the rear frame to be housed within the front legs and 9 to the rear of said central cross-piece 10.

The halves of the main frame are kept from spreading too far apart at their bot torn by means of a pair of slotted links 16 and 17 secured to the forward and rearward central cross-pieces 10 and 1 1- respectively by eyes 18 and 1.9. A bolt 20 with winged nut 21 connects the free ends of the links 16 and 1? and by allowing the free ends of the links to overlap or to be arranged at an angle to each other in an obvious manner allow the halves of the frame to be held closer together than their extreme position if desired. At the top of the main frame as by means of hinges 22 upon the strong upper cross piece 11 hingedly mounted upon the said main frame the work holder designated generally by the numeral 23. This work holder a rectangular frame having side pieces 21 and 25 rigidly connected by a cross-piece 26 at the main frame end and a cross-piece 27 at the opposite or free end. This work holder is adapted to swing from upright position as shown in Fig. 1 toward and to the front surface of the main frame as indicated in Fig. 3. The work holder adjustably held in any upward position by means of a slotted brace 28 on each side of the work holder and pivoted thereto as by a screw 99. while the other end of the brace or some, intermediate part of the brace is held by a bolt and winged nut 30 to the proper point upon a slotted guideway 31 rigidly secured to the outer edge of each side of the forward legs 8 and 5). lreferably also the work holder is held more. rigidly from passing back beyond upright position by reason of the surface 26 of the cross-piece 2.6 of the work holder coming into contact with the upper surface 11 of the top cross-piece 11.

Furthermore a forward rest is provided for more rigidly supporting the forward part of the work holder when it is in intermediate position as shown in Fig. 2 so that the work holder may be used as a drafting table or for a rigid table or easel for pen and ink work. This forward rest consists of two uprights 32 and 33 having their lower ends pivoted to the front legs 8 and 9 respectively by screws 34 and a threesidcd frame composed of side-pieccs 35 and and a connecting bar 37. One end of the side-pieces 35 and 36 is pivotally supported as at'38 by the front legs 8 and 9 near their upper ends, while the other ends of said side-pieces are connected by the bar 37. Slots 39 extend nearly from end to end of the side-pieces and 36 and slidingly mounted in each of said slots is a screw or bolt 40 extending from said uprights 32 and 33 into said slots. It. will be obvious now that this front rest may be unfolded to the position shown in Fig. 1 or may be folded to the position shown in Fig. 5. As the slots 39 do not extend to the outer ends of the side-pieces and the uprights 32 and 33 are prevented from swinging farther out than shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and in that position the work holder 23 rests squarely upon the tops of said uprights and 33 as shown in Fig. 2. It will be further plain that this forward rest is readily moved to folded position by swinging the upper ends of the uprights 32 and 33 back toward the main frame with the bolts 40 riding through the slots 39 until the threepiece frame 35. 36 and 37 is flush with. the front half of the main frame.

Two rods 11 and +12 extend lengthwise of the work holder 23. Upon these rods is slidingly and adjustably mounted a bracket 13 by means of a thumb screw 11. In this way the bracket 43 may be adjusted to any position longitudinally of the work holder to be the lower clamp to hold in place in the usual way the artists canvas for painting.

In order to afford greater length to the work holder an extension thereof is provided. consisting of a plurality of rods 45 slidingly mounted in the work holder crosspiece 527 and provided with a crossmice 46 connecting the tops of said rods above the top of the work holder. Preferably also a lower piece 17 connects the lower ends of these rods -15 within the opening of the work holder 23. Between the top of the work holder 23 and the top cross-piccolo there is slidingly mounted upon the rods 45 a top bracket 48 adjustably secured in desired position by means of a thumb screw 49. This top bracket is adapted to hold the upper edge of a canvas and can be adjusted from a position immediately above the top of the work holder to the position farthest up on the. extension rods =15 when said extension frame is at its most extended position. In this Way the upper and lower brackets 48 and 43 respectively are adapted to be adjusted from positions a few inches apart to a position between three and four feet apart upon an ordinary sized model of my device. It will be seen that when the work holder 23 is in forward position the artists canvas is held upon one surface of the work holder, which surface for convenience I will call the canvas-receiving surface. When the work holder is swung down to lowered position as shown in Fig. 3 or to any intermediate position such as shown in Fig. 2 the artists work will be placed upon the other surface of the work holder, which surface for convenience I will call the board-receiving surface.

Upon the free end of the work holder 23 is a shelf 50 having a flange 51 extending back toward the work holder. The said flanged shelf is slidingly and adjustably secured to the said edge of the work holder by means of bolts 52 and winged nuts 53 as plainly shown in Fig. 6. \Vhen the work holder is in fully lowered position as shown in Fig. 3 the shelf is then moved to its forward position as shown in said Fig. 3, forming a shelf to loosely support an artist's board or other paper holder, while the flange 51 prevents said board from moving forward off of the shelf. When the work holder is in position to form a drafting table as shown in Fig. 2 the said shelf 50 will preferably be lowered until its flange 51 rests against the top or board-receiving surface of the work holder. Said flange will then form a ledge for holding the drawing board upon the work holder, but not rising above the level of the drawing board and so not in the draftsmans way. In fact the flange 51 and upward projecting part of the shelf 50 preferably will be flush with the upper surface of the drawing board and may be utilized as a guide against which a T square may be placed.

It will be understood of course that transverse openings are provided in the shelf 50 through which the rods 45 of the extension frame will extend to the bracket 48 and outer cross-piece 46. When the device is being used to hold a paintcrs canvas it will be seen that the shelf 50 extends to the rear of the eanvasreceiving surface of the work holder and of course the shelf will be moved to what is then rearward position so as not to project beyond the general forward surface of the work holder and so as not to interfere with the canvas upon the work holder.

It will be seen that my combined artists easel and draftsmans table provide an article that is well adapted for its numerous uses and yet which is simple in construction and light enough to be readily carried about and which also may be readily folded for carrying or for storage. Furthermore it will be seen that the means I have provided for aflording both an artists easel and draftsmans table'do not interfere with its full utility in any position nor are the parts necessary for its use in one way an obstruction when the device is being used in other positions.

My device is particularly adapted for use in art schools or for art students use. in that it is adapted to provide for the artist or student a support which can be readily moved to all the positions he needs accordinge to the different work he may have on hand in a days work. This is a matter of convenience, in that it allows the student to readily change from one form of work to another and does not necessitate the presence of numerous unused work supports.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an article of the class described. the combination with a main frame having at each side a forwardly and a rearwardly extending leg and a laterally extending top member. of a rectangular work-holder as wide as the main frame and hinged along its inner edge to the top member of the frame whereby the work-holder may be po sitioned substantially upright above the main frame top to form a. painting easel and may be swung forward to or below a horizontal position to form a drafting table and may be swung farther down and against the front legs of the main frame to form a. sketching easel. two braces pivotally attached at one extremity to the opposite side edges of the work-holder and adjustably connected to the front legs of the main frame and adapted to support the work-holder when the work-holder is swung to different positions away from the front legs of the main frame and a front rest comprising a U-shaped frame having its arm ends pivoted to the front legs of the main frame near the top and two braces pivoted at their lower ends to the opposite front legs and having their upper ends slidingly attached to the arms of said front rest frame whereby said rest may be folded to the main frame or may be extended to form a palette support when the work-holder is upright and to form a further support for the work-holder farther out than the work-holder braces.

2. in an article of the class described. the combination with a main frame having at each side a forwardly and a rearwardly extending leg and a laterally extending top member, of a. rectangular work-holder as wide as the main frame and hinged along its inner edge to the top member of the frame whereby the work-holder may be positioned substantially upright above the main frame top to form a painting easel and may be swung forward to 01' below a horizontal position to form a drafting table and may be holder mounted to slide through the free end swung farther down and against the front of the Work-holder and through said flanged legs of the main frame to form a sketching shelf. 1!) -.1:-1e], 2L flanged shelf udjustablf mounted In Witness whereof I have aflixed my sigon the free end of the Work-holder whereby nature this 3rd day of March, 1017.

the flange ma be moved toward or away from the work-holder and an extension Work- W. BRYTHON JONES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

